Author(s): Dipankar Das

Email(s): dipankardas.atisha@gmail.com

DOI: 10.5958/2321-5828.2017.00018.3   

Address: Dipankar Das
Assistant Professor, Department of History, Motilal Nehru College, University of Delhi

Published In:   Volume - 8,      Issue - 2,     Year - 2017


ABSTRACT:
Sacrifice (yajña) was of central importance in the Vedas, a vast corpus of religious texts orally composed, compiled, preserved and transmitted across generations by families of male poets-cum-priests/ritualists in north-western and northern parts of the Indian subcontinent. Of particular significance to the study of sacrificial rituals is a genre of later Vedic texts, the Brāhmaṇas that describe and comment on the sacrificial rituals in exhaustive detail. Speculation on procreation and creation are abundant in these ritualistic texts and are hinged on the idea that sacrifice was a perfect means of bringing about ‘paradigmatic’ cosmic creation and human procreation. At the same time, while stressing a metaphysical notion of ritual as a means of creation and procreation, these texts serve to subtly convey the complex social reality of stratified gender roles and relations in the later Vedic period (circa 1000-500 bce) heavily mediated by the priestly perception. This essay explores the use of certain motifs on procreation in the Brāhmaṇas and thereby demonstrates how the notion of hierarchical and unequal gender relations is embedded in them.


Cite this article:
Dipankar Das. The Idea of Procreation in the Vedic Brāhmaṇas : A Study in Gender Relations. Research J. Humanities and Social Sciences. 8(2): April- June, 2017, 123-130. doi: 10.5958/2321-5828.2017.00018.3

Cite(Electronic):
Dipankar Das. The Idea of Procreation in the Vedic Brāhmaṇas : A Study in Gender Relations. Research J. Humanities and Social Sciences. 8(2): April- June, 2017, 123-130. doi: 10.5958/2321-5828.2017.00018.3   Available on: https://www.rjhssonline.com/AbstractView.aspx?PID=2017-8-2-3


Recomonded Articles:

Author(s): Arun Norge

DOI:         Access: Open Access Read More

Author(s): Dwijendra Nath Thakur

DOI:         Access: Open Access Read More

Author(s): Khushal Suryawnshi

DOI:         Access: Open Access Read More

Author(s): Praveen Rai, Sujata

DOI:         Access: Open Access Read More

Author(s): Mitike Shrivastava

DOI:         Access: Open Access Read More

Author(s): Mallikarjun I. Minch

DOI:         Access: Open Access Read More

Author(s): Naila Rashid, Sadaf Nasir

DOI:         Access: Open Access Read More

Author(s): Smita Parashar, Smriti Singh

DOI: 10.5958/2321-5828.2020.00051.0         Access: Open Access Read More

Author(s): Ritu Bala

DOI: 10.5958/2321-5828.2018.00115.8         Access: Open Access Read More

Author(s): Afa-Dul Mujiaba

DOI:         Access: Open Access Read More

Author(s): J. B. Anna Asheervadham Mary, Sujeevan Kumar Bullard

DOI: 10.5958/2321-5828.2018.00045.1         Access: Open Access Read More

Author(s): Sibsankar Mal, Grace Bahalen Mundu

DOI: 10.5958/2321-5828.2018.00104.3         Access: Open Access Read More

Author(s): Dinesh Kumar Jayswal, Mona Jaiswal

DOI: 10.5958/2321-5828.2015.00035.2         Access: Open Access Read More

Author(s): Ritu Rani

DOI:         Access: Open Access Read More

Research Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences (RJHSS) is an international, peer-reviewed journal, correspondence in the fields of arts, commerce and social sciences....... Read more >>>

RNI: Not Available                     
DOI: 10.5958/2321-5828 


Recent Articles




Tags